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Trailmaster

Old Jun 29, 2009 | 01:29 PM
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Hey guys,
Has anyone installed the Trailmaster 5 inch suspension lift? It is under $600, appears to come with coils and shocks. I'm thinking of buying it & installing on my 4 door jk. I'm just wondering why there is such a difference in cost. Can anyone give me some advice here, I don't want to pay the money to install a $600 lift and regret that I didn't get the more expensive one. Can you see what the disadvantages are? I want to put 37's on.

Thanks for the feedback.
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 02:20 PM
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trailmaster has had some issues in the past. Some of their truck lifts didn't have the best quality control. I think at $600 I would get a OME or Teraflex.
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by bigbluejk
trailmaster has had some issues in the past. Some of their truck lifts didn't have the best quality control. I think at $600 I would get a OME or Teraflex.
Yes but it's a 5 inch lift. I can't find an OME or Teraflex 5 inch for $600.
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 03:57 PM
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Originally Posted by aussieguy
Yes but it's a 5 inch lift. I can't find an OME or Teraflex 5 inch for $600.
6" for $600? Sounds low quality to me if a good 2.5" is $450-500
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 04:44 PM
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I am going to say it is not going to have things you will need. The only ones I see by them are the adjustable kits, they are all in the $2000+? Can't find the $600 one.
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 05:01 PM
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Originally Posted by bigbluejk
trailmaster has had some issues in the past. Some of their truck lifts didn't have the best quality control. I think at $600 I would get a OME or Teraflex.
I hate to admit it, but bigbluejk is correct about the quality issues. trail master was owned by Lund, and then Smitty Built and truthfully profits were probably more important than product. We bought trail master in 2005 and invested more than $3 million to rework many of the late model kits. (Performance Automotive Group consists of: OR-Fab, trail master, and Performance Accessories). The money we invested in reworking the kits was well spent, most people that own trail master kits love them.

We make all the kits in Chino Valley Arizona. Our shop is very modern, and we've done everything we could to be as vertically integrated as possible. About the only thing we don't make ourselves are bolts and nuts. Hence the price competitiveness.

If you were at the Mega-Meet this past weekend you might have seen a couple of our JKs. The "OR-Fab" JK has the 5" kit, and I think most would tell you that it performed very well.

Aussieguy, I see you live in LA. Serveapurpose lives in Irvine, and he has a two door JK with the 5" flex joint kit. If you're interested PM him and he'll probably take time to meet with you.

Yates
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 06:01 PM
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I am guessing this is the kit you are looking at for the $584? It is missing a lot of items you will want in a lift. Also it says it is 5" front and 3" rear. My guess is that is is designed to run a 35" tire since most kits that use 3" out back lift 4-5" in the front to give a more level stance.

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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 06:32 PM
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Originally Posted by yhudson
I hate to admit it, but bigbluejk is correct about the quality issues. trail master was owned by Lund, and then Smitty Built and truthfully profits were probably more important than product. We bought trail master in 2005 and invested more than $3 million to rework many of the late model kits. (Performance Automotive Group consists of: OR-Fab, trail master, and Performance Accessories). The money we invested in reworking the kits was well spent, most people that own trail master kits love them.

We make all the kits in Chino Valley Arizona. Our shop is very modern, and we've done everything we could to be as vertically integrated as possible. About the only thing we don't make ourselves are bolts and nuts. Hence the price competitiveness.

If you were at the Mega-Meet this past weekend you might have seen a couple of our JKs. The "OR-Fab" JK has the 5" kit, and I think most would tell you that it performed very well.

Aussieguy, I see you live in LA. Serveapurpose lives in Irvine, and he has a two door JK with the 5" flex joint kit. If you're interested PM him and he'll probably take time to meet with you.

Yates

I wish I hadn't been one of the guys that dropped 1300 bones on a trailmaster suspension for my S10 Blazer back in the day. I think it is great you guys have revamped the company. I almost gave them a second shot after reading some stuff on here about the current products and what had been done with the company. They had a rep named sirhk100 or something that made me almost try trailmaster again. The price was great. Then I read that article in the sept. 2007 JPmagazine where they were testing suspensions and the trailmaster kit they were testing had a control arm break in the middle of the test. That brought back the bad taste. I am not bashing Trailmaster, and hope it doesn't come off that way.
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 06:57 PM
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Aussieguy pm me your number and we will arrange to meet up. You can get behind the wheel of my JK and give it a test drive so to speak.
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 08:39 PM
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Originally Posted by bigbluejk
I wish I hadn't been one of the guys that dropped 1300 bones on a trailmaster suspension for my S10 Blazer back in the day... I am not bashing Trailmaster, and hope it doesn't come off that way.
I definately didn't take your post as bashing. You had a bad experience, and knowing what we had to fix I'm certain that it really happend. I'd like to change the past, but I can't. I can make damn sure we don't re-live it though!

Y
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